Kyrgios Reveals 'Lowest Point' of Career & Ending Up In Psychiatric Ward
Nick Kyrgios has laid bare his struggles at the 2019 Wimbledon, which led to self-harming and an eventual check into a London psychiatric ward.
Wimbledon has been a recent place of success for Kyrgios, who reached the SW19 final last season before eventually losing to Novak Djokovic. However, the Australian player has also had some difficult times in the competition, particularly in the 2019 edition.
In the latest Netflix tennis documentary, Break Point, Kyrgios revealed his psychological difficulties at the 2019 Wimbledon tournament. The 28-year-old said in the documentary that he was unable to process the pressure during the tournament and this difficulty eventually came out in other ways, including drug abuse and self-harming.
"2019 was the lowest point of my career. That pressure, having all eyes on you, the expectation, I couldn’t deal with it.
"I hated the kind of person I was. I was drinking, abusing drugs, lost my relationship with my family, pushed all my close friends away. You could tell I was hurting. My whole arm was covered in scars – that’s why I actually got my arm sleeve to cover it all. I was genuinely contemplating if I wanted to commit suicide."
After a string of injury issues in the 2023 season, Kyrgios eventually returned recently at the Stuttgart Open, where he was eliminated by Yibing Wu in the 250 level event. The 28-year-old will be hopeful of building form and fitness to enter this season's Wimbledon.
No matter what setbacks the Australian player experiences in his career, he feels that he reached a low point at Wimbledon in 2019. Kyrgios explained how a moment with his dad provided a particularly eye-opening moment that changed his outlook.
“I lost at Wimbledon, I woke up and my dad was just sitting next to me on the bed and he was like full-blown crying. That was a bit wake-up call for me. I was like, okay, I cannot keep doing this. I ended up in a psych ward in London to figure out my problems.”
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